Kate Chopin

Read

1. In my opinion she didn’t publish it because it sends the wrong moral message. This story makes it seem like its ok to be unfaithful and there wont be any repercussions. Also woman mainly stayed home back then and I don’t think she wanted readers to get the idea that all stay-at-home moms participated in this behavior.

1. Calixta wasn’t worried about the storm and didn’t even notice it at first. Alcee was trying to get out of the storm so he asked to stay with Calixta. The lightning frightened Calixta and she staggered back into Alcee’s arms. This created a flashback of emotions for both of them and brought them closer to each other.

Write

1. I feel as if it were making up for wanting to, but not acting on their impulses the first time. Also the lightning strike really helped them come together.

1. The two were a little different. Alcee was a wealthy man of Creole descent and Calixta was Acadian. You can tell both of them were passionate about each other in “At the ‘Cadian Ball”, but couldn’t act on it due to Clarisee.

1. One obvious issue would be adultery. Both Calixta and Alcee are married but they didn’t let that stop them. At least it was a spontaneous event and they didn’t plan it.

Interpret

1. Maybe she chose the five-scene approach to show the reader just how the situation escalated and that she had no intentions to be unfaithful.  It was almost a set of stages that happened in order for them to come into contact.
2. I think the storm describes how things can escalate so quickly. You (Calixta) have no clue the storm is coming, (Alcee) then before you know it the storm is coming down. All of a sudden, the storm is gone as fast as it came.
3. The moral issue in the story is adultery. It does seem immoral but that doesn’t matter. People do immoral things everyday and even though I may not agree with it, there is nothing anyone can do. However, I can see why she didn’t want to publish the story.